


Many Meetings

by duc



Series: Double Agent Vader ficlets [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Double Agent Vader, Fiallerils AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 15:25:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5253338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duc/pseuds/duc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newly defected to the Alliance, Admiral Piett meets a few "old friends" of -Darth Vader- Anakin Skywalker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Many Meetings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fialleril](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fialleril/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Shape-Changer](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4678835) by [Fialleril](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fialleril/pseuds/Fialleril). 



“Admiral Piett.”

The officer's mess hall on Home 1 seemed perpetually crowded and noisy, so the man had to repeat himself twice before Piett heard his raspy voice over the tint of conversation. Piett looked down to see Lord Va... Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, seated at a neighboring table. His heart skipped like it usually did whenever Piett saw the man and his shoulder squared themselves, hands tightening on his tray.

“General,” He said, carefully addressing him by the rank the Alliance had given him, rather than by the title and name he still found himself thinking of him as. Skywalker had so far been uncharacteristically patient with Piett’s slips, but it was plain as day he had no love for the name Darth Vader.

“You look well,” Skywalker nodded in return. “The Alliance seems to agree with you,”

“You as well,” Piett said, half nervous reflex, half truth. The man looked healthier every time Piett saw him, certainly leagues away from the frail, white shade encased in hard black he had glimpsed on the Executor.

“Piett?” the Togruta female seated across from Skywalker stood up straighter. Piett realised belatedly she must be his dinner companion and not a random rebel eating dinner in the first free spot found. “The Admiral Piett who made the very top of your ‘Imperials to poach if possible’ list?”

Skywalker said nothing, and instead leveled a look at the Togruta. She stared at him right back, expectantly. After a beat Skywalker sighed.

“Ahsoka,” he gestured at Piett with one mechanical hand. “Meet Admiral Firmus Piett, formerly of the Imperial Navy. Piett, this is Agent Ahsoka Tano, an old friend.”

Agent Tano stood up and offered Piett a hand. “Pleased to meet you,” she said with a smile. “I was hopping I would get to before I left.”

Piett hesitated for a second before shaking the hand. There was something about her smile. It wasn’t quite predatory, but there was certainly more to it than the usual bland politeness of meeting a stranger. If anything, it weirdly reminded Piett of meeting one’s in-laws for the first time, which was just ridiculous.

“you’re having dinner right now? Come and sit with us” Tano said, gesturing at the empty seat next to Vader.

Piett looked at the seat, looked at Vad... Skywalker right next to it, and his heart skipped a beat again.

“Ahsoka,” Skywalker warned, looking at Piett like his eyes could see right through him. As if he could see the cold panic that insisted on freezing Piett’s insides every time he came into close contact with Skywalker. “He probably has other plans.”

“Oh?” Tano looked at him for confirmation, somehow making it clear she knew full well he didn’t, and that she would also know full well why he would say otherwise. Her face was all polite enquiry but her eyes had a glint of challenge. Like a child on the playground asking another one if he was chicken.

Piett could have sworn he had outgrown such juvenile games long ago, but still the implication that he was too scared to spend time in Vader’s company stung at his pride. Hadn’t he served directly under him for months? and as a lesser officer for years before that? The longest living, in fact, of Vader’s subordinates?

Which Piett guessed was how he found himself sitting with Darth Vader, eating powdered eggs and making small talk.

Strictly speaking he was sitting with Skywalker, Agent Tano, and another “old friend” Tano flagged when he entered the room with a “Hey, Rex! Come here and meet the admiral!” “Rex” being a grizzled human man wearing cannibalized bits of stormtrooper armor, including a helmet which had elaborate blue designs painted on. -Piett studiously tried not to think about the provenance of the armor- But Piett’s brain kept getting stuck on the “making small talk Darth Vader” part so that was what he focused on.

The very first thing they drilled into any officer who was anywhere near Lord Vader’s vicinity was to never speak to the man about anything other than the job at hand. In fact it was preferable to only speak when spoken to. But if the officer absolutely had to volunteer important information,it was then important to speak it as succinctly and clearly as possible and not to tarry, lest Lord Vader’s patience be tested. Vader himself could be silent for days on end.

There were entire unofficial seminars on how to best approach Lord Vader! So Piett found the whole experience of sitting next to him, eating dinner, and swapping amiable stories of barrack food entirely surreal.

“So you’ll be working with General Calrissian for your next mission?” Skywalker asked when the subject wandered again.

“Well it’s mostly the “general’s” mission, I’m just providing intel as needed.”

Vader cocked his head. “You have issues with Calrissian?” He asked.

“No,” Piett said honestly. “Well I don’t know him well enough to say,” He added. “From what I’ve seen of his record, he sounds like he has the potential to be a great officer. I can see why the Alliance offered him a commision.”

“But?”

Piet hesitated “He’s awfully young for the rank.” He finally put it as

Across the table, Tano snorted. Piett’s eye flickered toward her as she took a long sip of her drink. He turned back to Skywalker in time to see something flash across his face before his features settled into bemusement.

“Ah,” Skywalker said non-committally.

“How old is Calrissian?” Rex asked Agent Tano

“Mid 30-ish”

“Ah, yeah,” Rex said with a growing smile. “I can see how that’s a little discomforting.”

“And as he doesn't even have previous military background,” Piett nodded. “I can’t help but be a little concerned.”

“General Madine is in his 30s,” Skywalker said, almost defensively.

 _Madine was a proven tactical genius_. Piett thought but did not say out loud. There was something there that he wasn’t getting. Some undercurrent between the other three people in this conversation that he could pick up but not understand. It made his finely honed paranoia twitch. _You are not going to get Force choked_. He told himself sternly.

“Hey, Admiral,” Agent Tano cut in. “ Out of curiosity, how old do you think he is?” She said, pointing at Skywalker with a negligent thumb.

Piett was taken aback by the complete non-sequitur. Then the question actually sunk in. He looked at Lord Vader, his heart did the now familiar skip. “I....” he stammered. _I couldn’t possibly_. He finished in the privacy of his own head. To his mounting horror, instead of shutting the subject down, Skywalker was growing curious.

“Admiral?” He raised an eyebrow, clearly inviting Piett to answer the question.

“I...ah...” The truth was he had no idea. Had never assigned an age to the Lord Vader. Had not quite though of him as a person, to be absolutely honest. And the idea of speculating filled him with dread.

“It’s ok, Admiral,” Skywalker said magnanimously. “I understand that all of this,” He gestured at his scarred face. “Make it hard to tell. Just give it your best guess. I won’t be offended.”

Think. Piett told himself. Darth Vader had been in the Emperor’s inner circle from the very start of the Empire, a contemporary of Grand Moff Tarkin. Before that, Anakin Skywalker had been a general in the Clone Wars, and high profile enough that his memory had survived the Jedi Purge. He had two grown children. He had only been asked for his best guess, so Piett kept it vague.

“In your 60s, sir? mid 60s?”

Skywalker’s bemused smile grew. “I’m 46.”

Piett blinked. _Only 3 year older than me?_ was the first thing to cross his mind. Followed by _wait a minute..._ He did the math. Then did the math again, and again, because the result made absolutely _no sense_. Something must have shown on his face because Agent Tano and Agent Rex suddenly burst out laughing. And kept laughing.

Piett stiffened and put his palms flat on the table. Tano caught his wrist before he could rise.

“No, no, sorry.....” stifled snickering. “It’s not you.... We’re not laughing at _you_. it’s just.....” She took deep breaths to try to regain her composure. “Your face, the _memories._...”

“It’s very similar to the face people used to make when they were introduced to Jedi General Anakin Skywalker,” The pair snickered again.

“You have to understand,”  Tano said. “When he was all fired up his charisma aged him up, but from up close, the babyface... well let’s just say he looked painfully his age.”

“Babyface?” Piett asked, still mildly stunned

 _“Oooooh,_ ” Tano said, smile growing positively evil. “I told the kids I would try to find holos of him. The minute I do I’ll show you”

“Glad to see you two are still deriving so much pleasure from this,” Skywalker groused. Piett eyed him cautiously but saw no anger in his expression or posture, only resignation. The other two didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Hey, do you remember the High Councillor from Cerea who straight out refused to believe it was him? Even when we confirmed it?”

“Even when he showed ID?”

“We had to call the Jedi Council to vouch for his identity!” They dissolved into laughter again.  

“Babyface,” Piett repeated again, testing the word, trying ot fit it into his worldview.

“Yes, admiral, babyface,” Rex said, catching a tear in the corner of his eye. “I guess that kriffing mask was good for at least one thing, hey?” This addressed at Vader.

Skywalker shot back a string of Mandalorian Piett was reasonably certain was not friendly.

**Author's Note:**

> Little ficlet taking place in Fialleril's awesome Double Agent Vader AU. This scene popped into my head while we were discussing Anakin's life in the Alliance post-Bespin and it wouldn't leave. Since Fialleril doesn't mind me playing in their sandbox I wrote it (.... took me two months, but I wrote it)
> 
> I hope you like it.
> 
> PS: Ahsoka and Rex almost talked about all the times Anakin was mistaken for Ahsoka (people would be told to expect a General Skywalker and a Commander Tan. Anakin couldn't possible be the general so he had to be the padawan). But that didn't flow well so you got the one stubborn bastard who refused to believe them.


End file.
